Truck driver convicted of negligent homicide

Paris Achen

Published 6:00 pm, Tuesday, December 11, 2001

Richard Stadt, 42, of Frisco, Texas, was convicted of criminally negligent homicide with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 30 days in Harris County Jail, three years probation and was ordered to pay $11,000 for the two victims' funeral costs, as well as 150 days of community service.

The traffic accident occurred Jan.31 when Stadt, who was piloting an 18-wheeler southbound on I-45 North near the Spring-Stuebner overpass, failed to stay in a single lane, said Lt. J. Denholm of Harris County Sheriff's Traffic Division.

The truck struck the right side of a concrete barrier on the bridge, causing the massive vehicle to careen off the barrier, hit the center curb and hurl over the center guard rail.

A Ford F-150 traveling northbound was rammed by the airborne tractor-trailer, crushing its driver, Dale Turner, 43, and killing him instantly.

Denholm said investigators determined that first impact was 53 inches off the ground because of a tire print found on the hood of the F-150.

The F-150 continued rolling for approximately 400 yards before trailing off the side of the road into the mud at the Spring-Stuebner exit.

The 18-wheeler continued flying across the northbound lanes until it hit the outside concrete barrier. It then slid south in the northbound exterior lane before being struck by a northbound truck pulling a low-boy trailer.

Denholm said impact ruptured both vehicles' right-side fuel tanks, causing the trucks to burst into flames.

Stadt escaped the blaze with fractured ribs, but the other driver, John Braun, 62, died of burns.

A blood test conducted on Stadt at the hospital showed no signs of alcohol consumption or drug use, Denholm said.

He said witnesses reported that Stadt's truck was traveling between 70 and 75 mph in a 55-mph zone.

The sheriff's department has investigated 117 traffic fatalities to date, compared to 94 last year.